I don’t try many recipes in the books I buy. I stick to a few tried and true. I am sure there are others which I haven’t gotten a chance to make yet

FG, I know you have your favourites from Flo Braker?s Baking for All Occasions, but I wonder if you?ve tried the Any Day All-Occasion Snack Cake, a streusel topped coffee cake? I made it today for the first time and thought of you, not just because I bought the book because of your recommendation ? very happy with it, by the way - but because it?s an oil-based cake made with only 1 egg and buttermilk (I used low fat).

It?s not nearly as decadent as the Baked Sour Cream Coffee Cake (I?ve made that too, so I know) but was very good for the little effort that it took to make…..nice flavour, moist crumb, crunchy topping. Though I made the basic version, it looks versatile too; Flo suggests add-ins of fresh berries, apples, grated carrots….

Hi Sophia, Yes, I’ve made that recipe, many times. I actually forgot about it. Thank you for reminding me! My husband and my mother in law both liked that cake a lot. I just went and bookmarked the recipe and I will make it soon. It’s been a long time since I’ve made it.

That book has mostly butter recipes. I haven’t made anything for me from that book since I learned I have high cholesterol. Thank you so much. I didn’t realize that cake was an oil cake.

What other recipes did you make from Flo’s book? I hope you are enjoying it.

My husband and my children think the Banana Streusel Snack Cake on page 157 is like “crack”. I make that cake almost every week and have started doubling the recipe and sticking a loaf in the freezer. But I haven’t eaten a slice of it since last January.

In “Baked” on page 43, the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip loaf is very good. The recipe makes 2 loaves. It calls for 4 eggs but I use 2 whole eggs and 4 egg whites with great results. The loaves freeze well. I use unbleached AP flour @ 139g/c as Renato Poliafito suggested. It is an oil cake. I use 216g Organic Canola Oil.

Their Sour Cream Cake, which calls for 16oz of sour cream, is for guests only. I guess I’ll have to enjoy the compliments instead of the cake

That book has mostly butter recipes. I haven’t made anything for me from that book since I learned I have high cholesterol. Thank you so much. I didn’t realize that cake was an oil cake.

What other recipes did you make from Flo’s book? I hope you are enjoying it.

That probably is one of the only recipes in the book that is even remotely low-cholesterol ....

I wanted to give the book a really good test run so made a variety of items: spicy yogurt pound cake, banana-pineapple-swirl cupcakes, sweet ricotta galette, apricot scones, butterscotch spiral coffee cake, heavenly brownie on shortbread bars, almond-rhubarb snack cake, cupid’s strawberry cake. And I’ve barely scratched the surface of what I’d like to make, so yes, I’m enjoying it very much .

Her techniques are often quite different from Rose’s, but the results are just as good. Pastry is very flaky, cakes are moist and tender….. The only “failure” - if you could call it that - was the cream cheese frosting for the strawberry cake which was just too soft to work with above 60F and I couldn’t keep it that cool in the midst of a heat wave, even in an air conditioned kitchen. I’ve had worse things happen!

I’ll have to set this book aside once my pre-ordered copy of Baked Elements arrives…...I plan to do the same and make a variety of recipes to test the book out.

The only recipe I’ve tried that you made is the Almond Rhubarb Snack Cake. That is one good cake! You have tried a lot more recipes than I. I think the reason I don’t use the books I already have as much as I could is because I go to the library a lot and always try new books. The only recipes I have made from Flo’s book are All Day Snack Cake, the Banana Cake, the Rhubarb Cake and the EggNog Cake. I couldn’t eat the Eggnog Cake because the glaze was unbelievably sweet but after 1 piece my brother in law became hooked on it. My step son fell in love with that cake too.

I have Chef Bo Frieberg’s book and noticed a similarity in his technique to Flo’s. Flo, I believe, is self-taught. I think she is excellent.

I’m so glad you like her book!

I haven’t made anything from Baked Elements yet. There are so many recipes that look great. When I do bake from it I think I will try the Whiskey Upside Down Cake first.

I also found some of Flo’s recipes to be a little sweet for me - I thought the rhubarb cake could have used less glaze and more fruit but I was in the minority.

Bookshelf space is precious around here so I often use the library also to test out a book before I purchase it but others I buy based on reputation, or as with Baked Elements, previous experience with the author(s). I think if I’d ordered the book through Amazon, I might have had it by now, but I ordered through Chapters and they still show a Sept 1 release date so am expecting the book next week.

I never heard of Chapters. I usually get my books from the store because I am so anal about the condition of my books. Barnes & Noble has the book.

Did you notice Flo’s rhubarb recipe omits the inclusion of the almonds into the batter?

There are only a few authors whose books I would order sight unseen: Rose, with out question, Baked, Flo and usually Cook’s Illustrated although I am concerned about repetition of recipes. Any other books I like to try before I buy. I have a lot of books I never open.

This is a list of the chapters in the new Baked. The chapters are arranged by ingredient:

So far, everything has turned out very well. Some things are a little too sweet for me ? the whoopie pie filling and pumpkin cake frosting come to mind ? but nobody else complained! As with their other books, I think some of the recipes could use a little more detail eg what type of cornmeal to use for the lemon muffin (medium was too coarse) and I did find an erratum in the candy bar tart recipe. (The oven is pre-heated so you can blind-bake the crust until it?s set; the alternative is to refrigerate the crust until firm. These instructions are as per Matt Lewis, who promptly replied to my inquiry on a Sunday morning when I was frantically trying to make 3 desserts for my Thanksgiving dinner!)

I made Flo’s Dark Chocolate Cake. I thought it was very good, but not nearly as “Dark” as Rose’s recipes. Still, it used twice the sour cream, so it had some other quality of flavor that I found very appealing. Perhaps it was exactly her intent to make it not so chocolately. It baked up higher than I’ve been able to get with Rose’s chocolate cakes. I tweaked the recipe, replacing the baking chocolate with cocoa and bloomed it with boiling water. Added extra butter to replace the missing cocoa butter and increased the Vanilla by 50%. This didn’t seem to rise quite as high as it did before, but it’s vastly more chocolately, still with the pronounced sour cream flavor. I think this may be my “go to” chocolate cake.

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So far, everything has turned out very well. Some things are a little too sweet for me ? the whoopie pie filling and pumpkin cake frosting come to mind ? but nobody else complained! As with their other books, I think some of the recipes could use a little more detail eg what type of cornmeal to use for the lemon muffin (medium was too coarse) and I did find an erratum in the candy bar tart recipe. (The oven is pre-heated so you can blind-bake the crust until it?s set; the alternative is to refrigerate the crust until firm. These instructions are as per Matt Lewis, who promptly replied to my inquiry on a Sunday morning when I was frantically trying to make 3 desserts for my Thanksgiving dinner!)

Of their books, I think this is my favourite.

Thanks for the heads up Sophia. They all sound so interesting and it is good to know about the candy bar tart recipe. I know that is one my husband is going to love.

It was very cool of Matt Lewis to take the time to respond to you. I feel it makes me more loyal to an author and a book when I see they care about their customers.

You’ve started baking for Thanksgiving? I haven’t even thought about it yet.

I’m glad to know how much you like the book. I have been going to the library a lot trying other books. I need to try more of the recipes in the books I already have.

I made Flo’s Dark Chocolate Cake. I thought it was very good, but not nearly as “Dark” as Rose’s recipes. Still, it used twice the sour cream, so it had some other quality of flavor that I found very appealing. Perhaps it was exactly her intent to make it not so chocolately. It baked up higher than I’ve been able to get with Rose’s chocolate cakes. I tweaked the recipe, replacing the baking chocolate with cocoa and bloomed it with boiling water. Added extra butter to replace the missing cocoa butter and increased the Vanilla by 50%. This didn’t seem to rise quite as high as it did before, but it’s vastly more chocolately, still with the pronounced sour cream flavor. I think this may be my “go to” chocolate cake.

Is that recipe from one of Flo Braker’s books? Your modifications sound geat.